E/CN.4/2003/85 page 20 when it is in the best interest of the child, for the shortest appropriate period of time and in conditions that ensure the realization of the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including access to education and health. Children under administrative custodial measures should be separated from adults, unless they can be housed with relatives in separate settings. Children should be provided with adequate food, bedding and medical assistance and granted access to education and to open-air recreational activities. When migrant children are detained, the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice should be strictly adhered to. Should the age of the migrant be in dispute, the most favourable treatment should be accorded until it is determined whether he/she is a minor; (b) Ensuring that the legislation prevents trafficked and smuggled persons from being prosecuted, detained or punished for illegal entry or residence in the country or for the activities they are involved in as a consequence of their situation as trafficked persons. In this respect, the Special Rapporteur invites States to consider ratifying the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; (c) Ensuring that procedural safeguards and guarantees established by international human rights law and national law in case of criminal proceedings are applied to any form of detention. In particular, deprivation of liberty should be allowed only on the basis of criteria established by law. A decision to detain should only be taken under clear legal authority, and all migrants deprived of their liberty, whether under administrative proceedings or in cases of preventive detention for reasons of public security, should be entitled to bring proceedings before a court, so that the court can decide on the lawfulness of the detention. Migrants in detention shall be assisted, free of charge, by legal counsel and by an interpreter during administrative proceedings; (d) Ensuring that migrants deprived of their liberty are informed in a language they understand, if possible in writing, of the reasons for the deprivation of liberty, of the available appeal mechanisms and of the regulations of the facility. Detained migrants shall also be accurately informed of the status of their case and of their right to contact a consular or embassy representative and members of their families. A briefing on the facility and information on the immigration law should also be provided. Migrants and their lawyers should have full and complete access to the migrants’ files; (e) Facilitating migrants’ exercise of their rights, including by providing them with lists of lawyers offering pro bono services, telephone numbers of all consulates and organizations providing assistance to detainees and by creating mechanisms, such as toll-free numbers, to inform them of the status of their case. Efforts should be made to conclude agreements with NGOs, universities, volunteers, national human rights institution and humanitarian and other organizations to provide basic services, such as translation and legal assistance, when they cannot otherwise be guaranteed; (f) Ensuring that non-custodial measures and alternatives to detention are made available to migrants, including through providing for such measures in law and ensuring that the